With less than four weeks to go until the world-class boxing event at the Aitken University Centre, headliner and promoter Brandon “L-Jack” Brewer is as confident as ever.
Brewer said roughly 2,500 tickets have already been sold for the Oct. 15 event and he’s hoping to pack 4,000 people into the AUC.
“I want people waking up Sunday morning saying, ‘Wow, that was insane, I can’t wait until the next one.’”
After the success of his fight back in May, the first professional boxing card held in Fredericton in 43 years which attracted 3,500 fans, Brewer said he is even more excited about the one coming up.
“I know what the expectation is, I know what’s going to be able to give them that wow effect again,” he said. “There’s a lot of really, really good things planned that we didn’t have planned last time, so things are right on track to be able to have that wow effect.”
The main event will see Brewer, who is 19-0-1 with 11 knockouts, go head-to-head with Brazilian boxer Anderson “Pantera” Clayton, 44-10-2 with 38 KO. The matchup will be a 12-round bout for the WBU Intercontinental Championship belt.
Brewer said those who look at his opponent sometimes make the mistake of judging the book by its cover.
“I think that’s a good thing in his case because they look at him, they’re like, ‘Oh, wow, he’s in ridiculous shape and he’s really strong,’” he said. “But people forget that I’m in ridiculous shape and I’m really strong, too, but I’m also a lot of other things as well.
“So, they don’t look at me and say, ‘Oh, Brandon looks really strong,’ because Brandon’s also really fast and Brandon’s also really smart, so I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
The co-headliner, a match between Nathan “Timberwolf” Miller of Elsipotog First Nation (9-0-1, 7 KO) and Montreal’s Shakeel “The Jamaican Juggernaut” Phinn (9-1, 5 KO), will be a fight for the CPBC Super Middleweight Championship.
The three fights on the undercard will feature the return of Boisetown’s Chris Norrad (13-0, 6 KO) and see one of the country’s most decorated amateurs, Dominic Babineau (5-0, 4 KO), taking on Argentina’s Cristian Rodrigo Gonzales (7-8, 5 KO).
Four other fights will see Canadian fighters from all across the nation rope fans into the AUC, including Annie Mazerolle (2-2, 1 KO) of St-Ignace, who Brewer referred to as “the toughest girl in Atlantic Canada.”
Brewer said the Oct. 15 card has the “all-star lineup” of Atlantic Canada’s pro-boxing community.
Taking advantage of the hype, a Best Seats in the House contest is being put on by Brewer and his L-Jack Promotions Inc. team where fans have a chance to win ringside couch seats. Brewer said 100 per cent of the proceeds go to the Fredericton Homeless Shelter.
“I think it’s a good cause, it’s important to give back,” said Brewer. “I have tremendous support from the community so it’s a must to return that support to the community.”
Brewer said he believes it’s his dedication to both the sport and the people that keeps the support coming.
“People support me because they like people who do things like that, so there were 3,500 people last time at the event, but they weren’t 3,500 boxing fans,” he said. “They were 3,500 Brandon Brewer fans, or fans of somebody who makes sure they’re a good role model when they put themselves in the position I’m in.”
Brewer said the capital city was hesitant to bring events like a world-class boxing card to Fredericton in the beginning but has warmed up to the idea.
“Now that we’ve done one and they see the economic spin that it has on the community – not only the economic spin, but the energy,” he said. “It livens up the city, we’re lighting up the province, we’re shaking the province. We’re getting people excited about something.”
Brewer said Fredericton has more than enough potential to thrive because of the nature of its people, regardless of the common thought of New Brunswick as a “dying” province with no hope.
“We look at it as, okay, we’re down – there’s only one place to go and that’s up. That’s the kind of mentality we need to have,” said Brewer. “We’re the hardest working people … people are nice, people get along. And that’s what it takes to have good positive energy in the province.”
Brewer said it doesn’t matter the location, but the devotion a person has to succeed.
“I don’t need to go to the big magical cities to become something. I can become something right in my backyard because ultimately that’s where I’m most comfortable,” he said. “That’s where our roots are. We don’t need to run away to find ourselves.”
Brewer said he hopes what he is doing with his event will help give others the same outlook.
“I think it’s important to have things that truly unite people. It’s good. It has nothing but positive spins from all aspects – economic or just Maritime pride, Fredericton pride.”
Tickets are available at Robin’s Coffee in Nackawic, Naturally Fit, and Read’s Newsstand, as well as the AUC box office in person between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, by phone or online.
